9/29/15

The dust has settled on the 2015 edition of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. What a year it was! We saw Sir Patrick Stewart take the stage at the Ryerson Theater. Legendary Midnight Madness master Takashi Miike made his long awaited in-person return to the festival. Another amazing appearance of cinematographer Dean Cundey (John Carpenter's Halloween; Jurassic Park). Last but certainly not least were the ten films that were showcased every night at midnight. We laughed, we jumped, sometimes we were so overcome with suspense and fright that we covered our eyes and we rooted for Lily and her volunteer trip.

Here is Robert A. Mitchell and Sarah Mitchell's video playlist of all the happenings, featuring all the red carpet interviews, Colin Geddes' introductions and the post-screening Q&As. You can relive the infamous "hug" moment during the Green Room premiere, watch the Frog Monster Kaeru-Kun from Yakuza Apocalypse take the stage over and over again. The end result is a near five hours of footage from Midnight Madness 2015! Enjoy!

9/22/15

Here is the complete video of the 2015 Midnight Madness introduction and post-screening Q&A final film The Final Girls. The Q&A features Malin Akerman, Nina Dobrev, Taissa Farmiga, Tory N. Thompson and director Todd Strauss-Schulson.

Last nights bittersweet closing night of Midnight Madness 2015 was the biggest party of the whole Festival. Special guests, a surprise encore screening of the crowd-pleasing The Chickening, and a packed Ryerson theatre made for one of the wildest screenings in the Midnight Madness 2015 lineup. Ian Goring was there to snap pics of all the action!

The final line on the final night of Midnight Madness, for The Final Girls.

Taissa Farmiga steps out for the premiere of The Final Girls!

The Final Girls director Todd Strauss-Schulson

Toronto's own Malin Akerman!

Todd Strauss-Schulson executes a perfect back suplex on Malin Akerman

The leading ladies of The Final Girls!

The leading ladies of The Final Girls! Also, Todd Strauss-Schulson.

Nina Dobrev takes a break from...writing in The Vampire Diaries (I don't know what TVD is about) to walk the carpet for The Final Girls!

Malin Akerman answers the tough questions from blogger Robert Mitchell!

Malin Akerman is pretty popular with these fans!

Tory N. Thompson in a snappy bowtie and a snappier grin.

Colin Geddes and Peter Kuplowsky usher in the last night of Madness!

Todd Strauss-Schulson has the vapours while introducing The Final Girls

Todd Strauss-Schulson tries not to drop his invisible pineapple during the Q&A.

Tory N. Thompson was pretty happy about not dying first in The Final Girls

Nina Dobrev talks about the difference between her Vampire Diaries cast and her new Final Girls family.

And that's a wrap, folks!

It's been a slice, blog-readers! From Ian and myself, we hope you've enjoyed and shared these red carpet photos from throughout TIFF and we'll see you next year, barring a vicious attack by Billy Murphy.

9/21/15

Did you miss Takashi Miike's insane Yakuza Apocalypse at Midnight Madness--or maybe you NEED to see it again soon? (Maybe some kind of medical condition or curse? Though is it really a curse if you have to go see awesome movies?) Well, you're in luck Yakuza Apocalypse comes to theaters and video on demand on October 9th!

That's right, Mr. Frog, you can stroll to the most convenient local theater. No more need for fighting!

It was very felicitous that the final 2015 Midnight Madness screening was the film The Final Girls. Adding to the party atmosphere of the last film of another great program was the star presence of the cast in person. Robert A. Mitchell was on the red carpet and spoke with actresses Malin Åkerman, Taissa Farmiga and director Todd Strauss-Schulson who also brought the energy!

9/19/15

Even Final Girls need to get outside and enjoy the sunshine sometimes.

The Final Girls is a film about... what else? The hallowed halls of heroines in horror movies (how's that for alliteration?) have many portraits hung on their walls. Here are a few fave Final Girls that you might not have yet considered, but who are still worthy women.

Jessica, thinking about all of her cool headstone tracings and the fact that she drives an old hearse.

Jessica from Let's Scare Jessica To Death, 1971
One of the most heartbreaking horror films ever, this one features my favorite example of the "hysterical housewife" trope. Jessica just got out of a mental hospital, so when she starts seeing things, naturally no one believes her. But they should. Zohra Lampert is radiant as Jessica and should have been a huge star.

Sarah is done with your crap. Do you hear me? DONE!

Sarah from The Descent, 2005
Sarah's transformation from wounded bird to wicked warrior is breathtaking in its scope and empowering in its righteousness. Regardless of which ending you prefer for this truly terrifying movie, there's no denying that Shauna Macdonald's performance is unforgettable.

Erin takes a moment for herself. A well-deserved moment.

Erin from You're Next, 2011
As Erin, Sharni Vinson is the ultimate modern final girl. She's got spunk, sass, and survival smarts. She destroys the secret plans of the bad guys in the movie and then destroys the other bad guys in the movie. Then she just shoots a man for snoring. OK, she shoots him for being a huge jerkwad, but still. She's a badass.

Ellen Ripley is done with your crap, too. And she's done with Carter Burke's crap, while we're on the subject.

Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise, starting in 1979
Genre fans might bicker about whether the Aliens movies are sci fi, horror, action, or an unholy commingling of the three, but everyone can agree that Ellen Ripley is one of the greatest Final Girls around: she survives through three movies and a questionable scientific experiment to star in a fourth, plays basketball with Winona Ryder and saves Michael Biehn, an android, a little girl, and a cat along the way. Oh, and she also saves humanity. No biggie.

May the bridges I burn light the way.

The Woman from À l'intérieur, 2007
This might be a controversial pick, but this is the Midnight Madness blog! We eat controversy for breakfast (and sometimes a light snack between meals). Béatrice Dalle portrays The Woman as terrifyingly skilled yet unhinged and in a neat twist, she is both the killer AND the Final Girl of this film. Sure, she might be deadly and dangerous, but what's most frightening is how much you can relate to her plight. It's a masterful performance in a masterpiece of a movie.

See even more Final Girls in a screening of The Final Girls, the last Midnight Madness film of 2015!

In what felt like a fever dream from beginning to end, Takashi Miike brought an unsurprisingly wild and ultra-violent Yakuza Apocalypse to the Ryerson last night in his first live appearance at TIFF since 2000. For me, and probably a lot of people in attendance on Day 9 of Midnight Madness 2015, this was my first time seeing 'The Master of Midnight' in person, and it was a thrilling and humbling experience. Ian Goring was also there to capture this history-making night of insanity!